


Who We Were

by Marzi



Category: Buffy the Vampire Slayer (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-01
Updated: 2019-01-01
Packaged: 2019-10-01 23:18:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,363
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17253245
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Marzi/pseuds/Marzi
Summary: Willow refuses to leave Giles' side on Halloween night, leading her to witness a strange reunion.





	Who We Were

**Author's Note:**

> Another incomplete thing I'm throwing up here because fuck it !

  
"Chunky or smooth, oh wait, that's peanut butter."  
  
Startled by the odd comment, she barely jumped when she saw the man.  
  
"Willow, get out of here. Now."  
  
Instinct had her half turning at the tone in his voice, but she held her ground. She was a ghost now. Nothing here would be able to harm her. If something happened to Giles, she wanted to know, so she could get help. Running for aid was the only good she could be in this situation.  
  
"What's this Ripper, don't want to introduce me to your new friend?"  
  
Giles didn't respond.  
  
"I don't- what-" Ripper? He didn't mean Giles did he? Willow's mind stuttered with her tongue. This was wrong. Something was wrong.  
  
"Are you going to keep giving me the silent treatment? Twenty years is surely long enough."  
  
"What have you done Ethan?"  
  
"Really. That's it, after all this time. I admit, I'm a little disappointed, Rupert."  
  
They really did know each other. Willow backed into the small doorway, forgetting she would not find safety in its solidity. Half of her was through it before she realized she was moving away from Giles, of all people, as if he was dangerous.  
  
"Willow, get out of here." He moved forward, past the small partitioning curtain that blocked off the back room.  
  
She stared at him, no longer trusting the urgency of his voice. He wasn't afraid for her, not in the way she initially thought. He didn't want her to know he knew this man.  
  
"Oh, let her stay. An audience would do us some good."  
  
"Whatever you've done here-"  
  
"Oh, I've been alright, doing a bit of freelance work and keeping up with my hobbies. How've you been? You're still playing nice with the Council, I see. I can't imagine you'd wear that much tweed of your own accord."  
  
What council? And Giles without tweed?  
  
Her focus had been on Ethan, she didn't even see Giles move.  
  
They crashed through a rack of costumes before slamming into a wall. Ethan was breathless with laughter as Giles kept him pinned, a forearm against his windpipe.  
  
"There he is!" His fingers came up to scratch against the tweed at his throat. "In front of the girl, that's kinky."  
  
Willow's gaze flickered away from them a moment, embarrassment rushing through her. Giles dropped his hold and backed away, and Ethan coughed, massaging his throat. Willow wanted to sink into the wall, be swallowed by the building until the whole scene in front of her vanished. Her feet stayed where they were, partially poking out of the molding.  
  
Giles' fingers clenched into fists. He kept his back to Willow. Did she even want to see his face in this moment? Would she be able to recognize him?  
  
"I should have known this was you."  
  
"Brilliant, isn't it?" Ethan actually stood a little straighter as he stepped out of the mess of spilled costumes. He was proud.  
  
"It's sick."  
  
He turned, tracking Ethan's movement as he went towards the table and statue head. Willow kept her gaze away from Giles' face, following the costumer instead. What was it that he had wanted to keep her from seeing? She didn't even want to risk catching a glimpse.  
  
"Because you're a champion of right and true, Rupert. Why are you trying to keep the mask on? The girl?"  
  
Surely there was nothing else to be seen? Could things really be worse if she was not acting as witness? What was it that this man seemed to think Giles was capable of?  
  
"It isn't a mask, and this isn't a trick. A Watcher is who I am."  
  
Ethan scoffed, the smile he had been wearing curled into one of distaste. "Stop lying, you do it so poorly. Though, I suppose you've gotten better over the years, going by the wide eyed terror behind you. Tell me, do you trust this man in front of you?"  
  
He was Giles.  
  
He was Giles.  
  
He was to be trusted because- because...  
  
He was Giles.  
  
"We don't have time for this Ethan, tell me how to stop the spell."  
  
"I've got all the time, Rupert. Besides, what's in it for me?"  
  
What did they have to offer someone like this? Someone who did not seem to gain anything from their own actions? Someone who simply sowed chaos?  
  
"Ethan." A low note of warning darkened his voice.  
  
"Can't even think of anything?" He tsk'd.  
  
"Innocent lives are at stake." His words were more frustrated than upset. His fists tightened.  
  
"Don't use that tired line with me, Rupert. Try again."  
  
"What you're doing is wrong-"  
  
"Try again!"  
  
"Ethan-"  
  
"Really now, you're not even trying, not even playing-"  
  
The taught lines in Giles' body snapped, and he threw himself at Ethan again. They crashed against the edge small table as Giles tackled him, making the whole thing shudder. She knew Giles could fight, he trained Buffy, but she had never thought of him hurting someone before. Especially someone who wasn't a demon, no matter what they had done.  
  
Ethan flailed in response to the attack, limbs striking out in a haphazard attempt to hit the man who had knocked him down. They rolled on the ground and Ethan laughed. His feet lashed out, tipping the table and scattering its contents. The statue of Janus tumbled to the floor, bursting in a spray of ceramics and she-  
  
Willow blinked, vision obscured by a sheet. Her hands felt clumsy as she fumbled with her ghost costume, and she had to sit up before she could pull it away from her face enough to even find the eye holes. She stood, using the house wall as support while her legs trembled. She pulled the sheet off, balling it up in her arms and clutching it to her chest.  
  
Giles.... what.. What was she supposed to...?  
  
Ethan. What was Giles going to do to Ethan? She was... she was actually worried about him. Should she go back to the shop? Find the others and take them there? What would they think? What could she possibly tell them that would make them understand? She couldn't begin to explain what she had just seen, would they even believe her?  
  
Arms tight around her ghost costume, she stepped off the porch and moved down the street. Buffy's house was closest. Were they still there? Could she talk to her friend about what she had seen her mentor do?  
  
She needed to think. She needed time. She... She...  
  
She had to talk to Giles. She had to look at his face and see what was left of who she thought she knew.  
  


* * *

  
  
"Has Willow seemed a little... off to you?"  
  
"What? The Willsters?" Xander's smile dropped from his face fairly quickly. "Now that you mention it, yeah."  
  
Buffy tried not to roll her eyes at him.  
  
"At first I just thought she needed time to adjust to being solid again. I guess something else is on her mind, though. You don't think..."  
  


When he didn't immediately pick back up with his thought, Buffy did roll her eyes. "I don't think what?"  
  
"...that she knows what happens when you die?"  
  
"What?"  
  
"Think about it. I remember soldier stuff, you remember fancy lady etiquette stuff, what if Willow remembers dead stuff? That'd freak anybody out."  
  
Buffy was unnerved that Xander had made a point. A good point. She couldn't even say what happened when you died, and she had actually died. "You don't think she'd talk to us about that?"  
  
He shrugged. "Maybe she hasn't found the right time yet."  
  
"Should we ask her?"  
  
"You're asking me?"  
  
"You're asking Xander what?"  
  
The two of them jumped in their seats. Willow was frowning with concern when they finally managed to look at her.  
  
"Everything alright guys?" She took a chair at the table, keeping her backpack in her lap.  
  
"Uh yeah-  
  
"Nothing going on here-"  
  
"-why would you think..?"  
  
"-everything's fine!"  
  
Buffy straightened in her chair. "How are you, Will?"  
  
"I'm fine." Her focus bounced between the two of them, telling them she didn't think either of them were fine.  
  
"You sure there isn't something you want to tell us?" Xander leaned towards her.  
  
Willow looked about ready to lean away. Buffy wanted to reach across the table and pull Xander back. She eyed him until he scooted away instead.  
  
"He just means that we're here for you if you ever want to talk about anything. And we'll be in the library after class, so-"  
  
"Oh, I'm helping Miss Calendar with some of her classwork, I'm not going to be stopping by the library. And what do you know, look at the time, I should probably get going now, don't want to be late." Willow's backpack hit the edge of the table as she leaped up, but she didn't even mutter an apology for her friend's rattled drinks.  
  
Buffy watched her all but run, in the wrong direction if she was trying to get to Ms. Calendar's room, unable to hide the surprise on her own face.  
  
"Oh yeah, she's totally fine." Xander's sarcasm didn't completely bury the worried tone in his voice.  
  


* * *

  
  
"Willow." Jenny looked up from her work, sneaking a glance at the clock. "You're early." The young girl was normally very punctual, but more than hour before she had asked to see her was pushing it a bit.  
  
She hovered the doorway of her classroom. "Uh, is that alright?" She had her backpack clutched to her chest, fingers absently toying with the zipper.  
  
"Of course."  
  
Relief flooded through her as she stepped into the room. Jenny rifled through the papers on her desk, trying to find a blank sheet.  
  
"The computer at work station one has a program running that needs to be checked." A lie, but Willow needed something to settle into, and she'd probably find something wrong anyway.  
  
"Alright."  
  
She went to the station eagerly, and Jenny wrote out her note. She set it aside and returned to her paperwork. The sooner she convinced Snyder to go digital with all the administrative nonsense, the better. She was pretty sure he was only holding out on her request to update the school system and admin work because she was friends with Rupert. When he got sick of doing things in triplicate, he would give in.  
  
Jenny looked up to check on Willow, who was already well entrenched in the computer code in front of her. Her backpack was sitting in her lap. Jenny shuffled through her work, looking for the petition she needed for an on site IT staff. She and a handful of advanced students were not going to cut it forever. The motion of her pen slowed as she filled in the tiny boxes. She still needed to talk to Rupert about their upcoming date. He knew she had been planning one, but so far he hadn't been too inquisitive. Now that she had the tickets locked down, he probably wouldn't stop with the questions. She would hold fast and give him nothing.  
  
Monster Trucks would be a good experience for the man. She just had to get him there first.  
  
She signed the bottom of the form and looked up. Willow's backpack had gone from her lap to her feet. Good. She picked up the note she had set aside and stood up.  
  
"It was Ms. Haddigon, wasn't it?"  
  
"What?"  
  
"You normally have math with Ms. Haddigon about now?"  
  
Willow jolted in her seat, head turning towards the clock. "Ohmygosh I-"  
  
Jenny put a hand on her shoulder. "It's alright. I've written a note. Keep working while I deliver it. You can stay as long as you like."  
  
Willow didn't look her in the eye, but turned back to the computer monitor. "Thank you."  
  
"You're welcome."  
  
Whatever had gotten her so spooked, Jenny wanted her to know she was always welcome in her classroom. Why she hadn't gone running to the library was a mystery. Maybe she would pop by and see Rupert after stopping by Marie's class. He probably knew what had gotten her so scared. How he could stand seeing those kids running into what they did was beyond her. She could hardly stand some of the things that happened in Sunnydale, and she had grown up with Angelus as her bedtime story.  
  
She was halfway to Marie's room when her errant librarian turned the corner into the hall.  
  
"Rupert."  
  
He stopped abruptly, startled from his thoughts. He smiled when he caught sight of her. She smiled back, unable to resist, and closed the distance between them.  
  
"I was just thinking about you."  
  
"You were?"  
  
The hopeful light in his eyes turned her smile into a satisfied smirk. She reached out to hold the edge of his tweed lapel. "Mhm. You're free tomorrow night, right?"  
  
His eyes darted around the hall the moment she touched him, checking for anyone who might see them. "Y-yes."  
  
She tugged and he jolted forward half a step. "Good. Dress warm."  
  
"What?" He reached up, taking a hold of the hand she had on his jacket.  
  
"You heard me England, dress warm and- what happened to your hand?"  
  
She grabbed his wrist before he could pull away. His knuckles were bruised. He had been in a fight. Rupert fighting? Barehanded?  
  
Jenny looked up, frowning. "What happened?"  
  
He wouldn't look her in the eye. "Nothing. Maybe we ought to, uh- before someone-"  
  
"I know what someone's hands look like after a fight. Are you alright?"  
  
"I'm fine."  
  
He tugged his hand away and she let him go.  
  
"The other guy?"  
  
He still wouldn't look at her. Two people acting strange who traveled in the same, tiny circle, was not a coincidence.  
  
"Do you know why Willow is hiding in my classroom?"  
  
He closed his eyes. That was answer enough.  
  
"We need to talk."  
  
He nodded.  
  
"The library, after school."  
  
Rupert opened his mouth to protest, it obviously was not his first choice of venue, but she cut him off before he could even start.  
  
"I'll see you then, right now, I've got a note to deliver."  
  
The confused look that flickered across his face was a little satisfying.  
  


 


End file.
